Jinnah College golden jubilee | FAST-NU tech event

Jinnah College marks golden jubilee
Peshawar, April 26: A variety of colourful events
marked the golden jubilee celebrations of Jinnah College for Women, a
leading college for female education in the province, on Wednesday.

The
daylong celebrations began with an impressive display of physical
training by students, which was followed by the cake-cutting ceremony at
the college's Safia Hassan Hall.

UoP vice chancellor Professor
Mohammad Rasul Jan was the chief guest on the occasion, while Islamia
College vice chancellor Professor Qibla Ayaz, JCW principal Professor
Neelofar Zeb Arbab and scores of former students were also in
attendance, said a news release issued by the University of Peshawar.

The students staged a drama on the misery of women in the country.

Through their acts, the performers called for end to women's exploitation in the name of honour and customs like swara and vani.

They also highlighted Islam's restriction on violence against women and orders for strict action against the violators.

The
students declared women's education as the real factor behind change
and vowed to contribute to the society through their professionalism
while proving themselves to be excellent mothers and wives at the
same time.

A short documentary on the historical background and achievements of the college was also showed to the audience.

Addressing
the ceremony, vice chancellor of the college Professor Mohammad Rasul
Jan said the key to development lied in provision of quality education
to youths, especially women, as they were the real ambassadors of
change.

He said the college was known for quality education.

The vice chancellor said the college had achieved a lot over the past 50 years but had yet to do a lot more to
sustain its glory.

He asked the principal to plan the launch of O and A level courses in the college.

Addressing
the alumni of the college, the vice chancellor said former students
should pay back to the educational institution by supporting poor
students and introducing scholarship programme for them.

"For me,
it is just like homecoming and a matter of great pride as a Jinnahian,"
said first female surgeon of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Professor Mahmonera on
the occasion.

She said admission to Jinnah College was a dream
come true for her like other girls and that she felt at home on campus
and studied with peace of mind.

Earlier, the principal said the college was opened in 1964 with 27 students and the number had risen to more than 1,700.

She said the college had been declared the best by the BISE, Peshawar and University of Peshawar for more than two decades.

Exams staff manhandled for not allowing cheating at Peshawar Science College
Peshawar: The invigilation staff at a private college was manhandled and locked in a room by outsiders for not allowing
cheating in the ongoing intermediate examinations here on Friday.

The
Schools Officers Association, a union of the teachers, after the
alleged manhandling of the examiners, threatened to boycott duties in
the examination centres across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if the invigilators
were not provided proper security.

The incident took place in the
Peshawar Science College, a private sector educational institution
located in Faqirabad, after the board paper ended.

"The outsiders
apparently attacked the examiners in connivance with the college
administration," one of the invigilators said that on the condition of
anonymity. He said that since the start of intermediate examinations on
April 23 the invigilation staff was running the hall according to the
rules and regulation and not allowing cheating despite many efforts of
the students appearing in the examinations.

He said that around
200 outsiders, probably students of the nearby Government College of
Peshawar affiliated with different student federations, stormed the
college while shouting slogans against the invigilation staff.

He
claimed that the attackers also snatched mobile phone, cash and other
documents from the superintendent of the centre and scuffled with him.

The
invigilator said that the exams staff was locked for about an hour in a
room of the school who called their friends, police and administration
of the education board for rescue through mobile phones.

He said
that the college administration had earlier also made efforts to change
the existing invigilation staff, as it was not happy with strictness of
the examiners.

Sources in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary
Education, Peshawar said that there were around 10 private
colleges in Faqirabad area and there was a tough competition among them
to attract new students after showing good results in the intermediate
examinations.

After the incident, the examiners rushed to the
board and demanded of the chairman to shift the examination hall to the
board building, he said.

"We will feel safe and secure if the hall
is shifted to the building of BISE, Peshawar," he said. When contacted,
BISE chairman Prof Mohammad Shafi said that he had informed the police
high-ups about the incident and asked them to provide security to the
invigilation staff immediately.

The students who just expect to
qualify the intermediate examinations through cheating couldn't afford
transparent examinations, he said. Security would be provided to the
teachers, said Mr Shafi.

General Secretary of the Schools
Officers Association Samiullah Khan Khalil, when contacted, demanded of
the government to register an FIR against the attackers.

He said
that teachers would not perform duty as invigilators in the ongoing
intermediate examinations if security was not provided to them.

He
said that the SOA office-bearers, police and board officials would
reach the Peshawar Science College on Saturday morning (today) to ensure
security of the examiners.

When contacted, the Faqirabad police station official said that no FIR about the incident was registered with them. Dawn

FAST-NU to hold mega tech event
Peshawar: A three-day National University Technology Competition (NUTEC) 2014 will
open at the FAST National University campus on April 25.

The
theme of this year's event is "Redefining Khyber", a press release
said.According to the NUTEC faculty head, Muhammad Subayyal, students
from different varsities are participating in 16 categories of contests.

The NUTEC event, regularly organised by the students'
body of FAST University's Peshawar campus, has grown from a small
technology competition into the largest gathering of technology savvy
students and entrepreneurs from across the country, the release added.

Overall,
the FAST-National University of Computer and Emerging Science (NUCES),
Peshawar is organising the event for the fifth time with Bank of Khyber
(BoK) and Jolly Collection as sponsors. The Jang Media Group is the
official media partner of the event.

According to the
director of the campus, Dr Tariq Rahim, the purpose of organising such
events is to promote a competitive culture among the students and
instill a spirit of positive thinking to channel their energies in
constructive activities.

The three-day event would have
sky lantern, glider show, cultural performances, competitions in
business, IT, engineering, short movies, ad making and E-gaming. "The
talented students have developed an event specific website, management
information system and an android-based NUTEC application," said Umair
Hussain Malik, the NUTEC students' body president.

Ex-student donates 121 kanals to Islamia College
Peshawar: A former student of the historic Islamia College Peshawar has donated 121
kanal of land to his alma mater as a sign of his love and affection for
his college.Professor Dr Nazeer Khan, a senior alumnus registered in
the academic session 1943-44 at the Islamia College Peshawar, announced
the donation at a meeting at the ICP campus.

Vice
Chancellor Dr Qibla Ayaz paid rich tributes to Prof. Nazeer for the
donation. He said the Islamia College would establish one of its
branches for higher education on this land in Galay, Swabi district. He
announced to set up a committee comprising Deputy Registrar
Establishment Daud Zahid and In-charge Legal Cell Faisal Shahzad to
formulate proposals for the legal take-over of the land by the
university. Dr Qibla Ayaz said a briefing on the issue would be arranged
soon for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Member
Provincial Assembly Shahram Khan Tarakai, who are public
representatives from the area to seek their input and assistance in
putting the 121 kanal of land to use for education. The news

100 students get US scholarships
Peshawar: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded scholarships to 100 talented students
enrolled in the two-year Associate Degree in Education (ADE) and
four-year Bachelor Degree in Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

"We
are delighted to see such bright students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Fata who have dedicated themselves to a life of learning, scholarship
and service," said Mohammad Tariq Khan, USAID senior education adviser.

Speaking
on behalf of USAID mission director Gregory Gottlieb, he said that they
were confident that the seeds being planted today through those
scholarships would bear fruits for the benefit of the region and the
country.

According to a press release, Provincial Minister for
Elementary and Secondary Education Mohammad Atif also spoke on the
occasion and thanked the United States for providing scholarships to
deserving students.

The scholarship programme is part of $165
million USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project, which works closely with
28 universities and 116 elementary teachers colleges throughout
Pakistan.

Assistance is customised, based on the priorities and
plans as determined by each province and region, and includes system
strengthening, policy reforms and training for better management of
teacher education programmes.

The project also works closely with
Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, provincial departments
of education and teacher training institutes across the country to
achieve these goals.

To attract qualified and talented students
into the HEC-approved degree programmes, the Pakistan Reading Project
will grant 6,454 full-tuition USAID merit scholarships.

These
scholarships are a part of the comprehensive education programme that
the United States implements in the country in partnership with the
government of Pakistan.

The programme includes building or
rehabilitating more than 850 schools; establishing centres for advanced
education studies at four Pakistani universities; expanding English
skills for more than 5,000 low-income students; and awarding more than
4,800 scholarships for university students to pursue education. Dawn